Wynyard Group, a company that specialises in intelligence-led software and solutions for protecting companies and countries from threat, crime and corruption, will today list on the main board of the New Zealand stock exchange.

Wynyard Group Managing Director Craig Richardson said he is delighted by the support received from local and international investors.

“Wynyard Group has secured a high quality register of local retail investors and leading institutions from New Zealand and Australia. The initial public offering was designed for investors who understand the accelerating global market and technology trends Wynyard Group is strongly positioned to address.”

More than 60 per cent of the offer shares have been allocated to New Zealand and Australian institutional investors; major investors include Milford Asset Management, Salt Funds Management, Harbour Asset Management, AMP Capital, Zeus Management and Sam and Gareth Morgan.

Craig Richardson says Wynyard Group is now majority owned by New Zealand investors, reversing a recent trend of high growth New Zealand tech companies being sold to overseas investors.

“Prior to the IPO we received many approaches from savvy multi-nationals wishing to acquire Wynyard Group’s business and intellectual property. One of the most rewarding outcomes of this IPO is that Kiwi’s recognised Wynyard’s global achievements to date, our future growth potential and the importance of this hi-tech company to New Zealand.”

Wynyard Group’s initial public offering raised $65 million at $1.15 per share, implying a market capitalisation of $118 million for the company. The company raised capital to continue its global expansion, develop new sales channels and invest in its risk management, intelligence, investigations and digital forensics software products.

“Wynyard has enjoyed a favourable first half securing new contracts with the New Zealand Police and other New Zealand government agencies, expanding Wynyard’s Financial Crime detection software-as-a-service (SaaS) customer base in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, and continuing to build capability in the United States market place,” said Richardson.

Specialising in advanced software for assessing risks to vulnerable entities, surfacing criminal intelligence from masses of data and investigating complex organised crimes, Wynyard Group employs more than 120 staff across offices in New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Globally Wynyard Group has more than 400 customers including national security and justice agencies, Fortune 500 companies and operators of critical national infrastructure.

“Recent world events have only strengthened Wynyard's competitive advantage and global value proposition. Our portfolio of powerful software products were purpose-built to help manage risk, intelligence and investigations in democratic environments where trust, security and privacy depend on transparency, effective governance and compliance with the law,” said Richardson.

Located in New Zealand, Wynyard’s global Crime Science Research Centre attracts some the world’s most talented software engineering, data science and industry experts. The company recently entered into a partnership with the Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science (JDI) at the University College of London (United Kingdom). As part of the agreement, Wynyard will facilitate internships and post-doctoral employment at its Crime Science Research Centre and mentor PhD students.

The company also recently won the Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product at the 2013 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.